Back in February I said that Pan Macmillan Women’s Fiction Evening was the bookish event of the year, but after last week I have to say that the launch party for The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance by the fabulous Kirsty Greenwood takes the literary crown for being the actual best.
As soon as the invite landed in my digital mailbox, a squee of delight may have escaped from me as not only did this mean I would have the chance to celebrate this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy novel with its amazing author, but Kirsty was holding her launch party as the in bookish circles very well known Drink, Shop and Do near King’s Cross in London, which was such a treat.
I think we’re in the right place…
With a host of fun events ranging from monthly ‘Speakeasy’ bookish reads to building-structures-out-of-toast competitions, this venue had been on my radar for a while and I was excited to finally get the opportunity to visit. And while it was a great place, I admit that as soon as I arrived I got distracted by hugging Kirsty and congratulating her on her pub day, followed by getting pulled into the most amazing gathering of authors, publishing people and fellow book lovers (shout out to the lovely book bloggers and reviewers I met on the night!), and I completely forgot to actually scout the rest of the venue, oops.
A particular highlight, besides, you know, basking in Kirsty’s amazingness, was finally meeting the super funny Lisa Dickenson, whose novels You Had Me At Merlot and The Twelve Dates of Christmas had me in actual stitches. She made good on her Twitter promise/threat that she would hug and smooch me and she was just so sweet. She also wore the most amazing heels (this is how I was told I could spot her) and she was as funny in real life as you’d imagine from reading her hilarious novels. Another author I really admire and had the chance to meet and have an actual conversation with (we even went on a cake run together!) was the super lovely Ali McNamara of Step Back in Time and From Notting Hill With Four Weddings... Actually -fame. So much awesomeness in one room, you guys.
Scrumptious cakes at the party with beautiful vintage plates
I also got to meet some fellow members of team Novelicious I hadn’t met in person before, which was utterly amazing. I fawned over Helen’s amazing photos of cake and chickens on Instagram and had such a great time chatting to the wonderful Cress as well, who from the end of this month will be a published author! Her books look absolutely amazing, so be sure to check them out here. I also got to meet Jennifer and see the gorgeous Cesca again, as Kirsty said in her lovely speech (in which I got a mention too, how cool is that?!): “Team Novelicious forever!”
Books, books, so many books!
Speaking of speeches, Kirsty’s editor Caroline Hogg gave a wonderfully moving one and it was brilliant to have the chance to hear it “IRL” and see that there was barely a dry eye left in the house after. Caroline mentioned how Kirsty is such a brilliant and creative person and she has made a real difference in the women’s fiction industry, not only with her own novels but also with Novelicious, and she is basically bookish magic. True that.
Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake!
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